Yeah, obviously the guy wasn't really thinking things through there. I'm certainly not defending his decision. But allow me to remove my Politically Correct hat for a moment and share a probably-unpopular opinion.
The outcome of the event is what surprised me a bit. It was not hot outside, nor was it dangerously hot in the car when the child was "rescued" by authorities--although he was admittedly "thirsty." But the father is now in jail, under investigation for second-degree felony child abuse. And after reading the comments left on the story, I guess I must be in the minority for thinking that the charges seem somewhat excessive.
I couldn't resist leaving a comment/troll under the pseudonym of "Tree hugger":
I too remember being left in the car sometimes for long stretches by my mom. It was boring as all get-out when she would spend an hour in the grocery store or the mall while I roasted out in the car, but I considered it better than being dragged along with her. She would leave the windows cracked, lock the car doors, and instruct me not to talk to strangers--so it was all good. But of course that was the mid-70s in the peaceful suburbs of Detroit, not the modern-day jungle of urban Utah. And I was probably a couple years older than the kid in this story, at least 4.
Now there's a little sarcasm in that paragraph, but I'm half serious too.
What this father did was selfish & stupid. But the comment "there's no cure for stupid" is true: stupid people will always do stupid things, and 99 times out of 100 their kids will survive despite them. News should focus more on societal injustices, and our courtrooms more on prosecuting violent crime & fraud, rather than this type of useless (but titillating) finger-wagging at incurably stupid/negligent people.
"But... THINK OF THE CHILDREN," you cry? Oh please.
Am I foolish for drawing a distinction here between violent/sexual abuse and... stupidity? I know there's a whole spectrum of abuse, but being stupid is not against the law. And it's not against the law for stupid people to procreate. Sure people need to be educated about what parenting decisions are okay and what are unacceptable. Maybe this prosecution "sends a message" to people. (Never mind that stupid people don't typically "get" this type of message.) But if we locked up (or sterilized!) all the stupid people in the country, we'd be living in a Dystopian nightmare, not watching one at the midnight movie.
What do you think? Was this guy's stupidity really criminal? Should they lock him up to "keep him off the streets?" Should they have locked up my Mom for leaving me in the car?
